Oh relax, just crank up the A/C and you’ll be fine.
Jeez… “Oh no! It’s going to be 8 degrees warmer!” We’ll lose some glaciers that I’ve never visited, but sea levels aren’t going to rise 5000 feet, the changed weather patterns might actually benefit me, and I don’t ski anymore anyway, so what’s there to worry about?
I was think in Nunavut near Hudson Bay or maybe as far south as Manitoba. Just need to find some high ground and wait for it to become waterfront.
In fact my current property could be beach front in 40-60 years at this rate.
Jim
Tipping points are thresholds that, once crossed, are barred from retreat. Frex: there are vast areas of permafrost in Siberia that are thawing, releasing methane (which traps heat 40 times more than co2). As the methane traps more heat, more permafrost thaws. As a result, temperatures have climbed much faster there. That may be a point that has been tipped past the point of no return.
There are many other examples in the comlex system. Here is a great article on the concept.
And, to be snarky, first you ask what the meaning of the term is, then you dismiss the term. Ignorance is silly and counterproductive.
So will my parent’s house, I think. Underwater counts as beach front, right?
It’s like an aqueous Baja Oklahoma and the Ten Stages of Sunkeness.
That’s not entirely true, from what I understand. What I understand is that thousands of scientists who aren’t employed by big business all agree that Anthropogenic Global Warming is a fact. What they aren’t agreed on is the repercussions of AGW (do the sea levels rise two inches or two feet? Do we have 5 years of the good life left, or 50?)
True enough. If we are well and truly boned, does it really matter if I drive a Corolla or a Hummer?
Meh. Even if Al Gore becomes Emperor of the World tomorrow, it’s inevitable that humans aren’t going to stop burning fossil fuels until all the readily accessible deposits are exhausted. Might as well just quit worrying and relocate away from the coasts.
All scientists are employed by somebody. The ones who aren’t employed by big business are employed by universities, governments, and “think tanks”. You think they’re volunteers? They need to put food on the table like anyone else. And what brings in the big fat government grants like a looming global catastrophe?
AGW, real or imagined, is a dream come true for your “thousands of scientists”.
Does that negate their findings? (Not snark - serious question.)
What we need is a nice Nuclear Winter.
Fix everything.
Ahem…Al Gore will be First Emperor of the Moon. He also invented the environment.
So, what’s the job market like in Denver?
Umm… (looks around nervously) uh, no jobs here! Move along, move along.
Wyoming. Yes, Wyoming has many jobs and plenty of land.
If weather patterns change so as to provide less rain to this area, we are also going to be seriously boned. High and dry, indeed.
These days, I tend to assiduously avoid all things related to global warming. Everyone disagrees with everyone else as to its causes, when we can expect to pass the point of no return, and whether or not anything we do will even be able to stop it. At this point they’re all FUD articles to me and remind me nothing so much as the peak oil scare (which, perhaps not coincidentally, is starting to make the rounds again). Until some cold, hard, and possibly unpleasant peer-reviewed facts come to light and some hardcore solutions are drawn up, I will continue to believe in my favourite of all hypotheses: Cow farts. Solution? Steak for everyone!
And most of the “experts” that say global warming is coming are typically paid shills for universities and other research institutes which are seeking more government grants (taxpayer money) to further study the supposed problem.
Its all about money. If research ever showed that global warming wasn’t happening or that it was part of a natural cycle, thousands of scientists would be out of work as the government grants dry up. They are not going to shot themselves in the foot. They have got to keep those funds rolling in.
It all seems to me that, in the 80s the hippies were all saying “Don’t destroy the environment, man! You don’t know what the consequences might be!” and now we’re in an era where those idealistic college types are in charge of things somewhat, and are now saying it again, only with real qualifications behind them. And now they’re saying they have proof, though it’s still complicated and inconclusive and somewhat contradictory at times.
I fear that it’s not quite how it’s being painted, that there are definitely agendas behind it all.
I have no problem with people being environmentally responsible, and if nothing else this will be the consequence of this disaster-mongering, but I do wish we really had some cold hard facts about what’s actually going to happen, instead of endless panicky speculation.
There were no hippies in the 80s. The 1960s ended on May 4, 1970.